VA Central Western Mass. Police Officer Bridges Language Gap for Veterans at Clinic

VA Central Western Mass. Police Officer Bridges Language Gap for Veterans at Clinic

LEEDS, MA | VA CENTRAL WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM — VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System Police Officer José Alamo performs a daily duty that goes beyond his calling “to protect those who served,” and extends to assisting Veterans with translating vital medical information concerning their health. “Every day there are Veterans who require assistance in translating the medical information they receive — and now more than ever,” said Alamo, who noted that the Springfield VA clinic where he works saw an increase in Latino Veterans after so many migrated in the wake of Hurricane María in 2017. “I’m happy to do it — to continue to help the people of the island — and not just because I’m from Puerto Rico, but because it’s the right thing to do!” Like so many of his VA colleagues, Alamo volunteered to travel from Massachusetts to Puerto Rico shortly following a hurricane that wracked the island. Working out of the main VA hospital in Puerto Rico, as well as a smaller clinic in a rural area, Alamo said during his time in Puerto Rico he witnessed the VA go beyond it’s scope of caring exclusively for Veterans — as the hospital and clinics also assisted the general public. “For the first week, some staff were living in tents and treating patients in other tents,” Alamo recalled, adding that instead of the typical ‘two-week’ VA disaster relief deployment he initially signed up for — he extended his time an additional two weeks. “We worked out of the VA medical center in Bayamón, and then I volunteered for an extended relief mission to a community clinic in Ponce.” Besides assisting with protecting patients and staff, Alamo said there were occasions when he first started to use his translation skills from Spanish to English, and conversely. “It was a tremendous honor for me to have been there,” Alamo said of his VA deployment to Puerto Rico from mid-October to late November. “Not only did we get to assist and care for Veterans, but the general public was grateful for our presence and it was incredibly humbling to assist them at that time.” Alamo said the care he watched over included treating basic wounds, dehydration, and administering lifesaving medications to Veterans and the general public. “We came together as one VA, and I worked with deployed volunteers from all over the U.S. — and the people of Puerto Rico were extremely thankful that we were there to provide the various assistance we could,” said the grandfather of four and great-grandfather of two. “But I never could imagine that my service to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria would extend to all these years later.” At VA Central Western Massachusetts’ Springfield Clinic on Bond Street, Alamo said he first experienced an increase in the number of Veterans who migrated from Puerto Rico in 2018. He was sent to provide police coverage at the clinic, and it was scheduled to be a temporary-duty assignment. During his time there, though, he said his translation services were enlisted along with his usual duties of protecting and serving the Veterans and staff. “After I completed the temporary-duty assignment, I was asked by staff to stay on permanently at the clinic.” Two years later, Alamo remains at the clinic as both a wall protecting it, and a bridge connecting the language divide sometimes experienced by Veterans and staff. “Although many of the Veterans from Puerto Rico and other Latin countries do speak English, sometimes the medical explanations are more comfortable for them in Spanish, and that’s when I’m asked to step in,” he said. VA Central Western Massachusetts’ Police Chief Roberto Cruz said he was aware of the vital service Alamo provides to the VA’s Springfield clinic, and he was a supporter of his officers serving in any way they can. “Our mission is in fact ‘to protect those who served,’ and it begins with ensuring their comfort, as well as their safety,” said Cruz, who is a retired New York Police Department captain and a military reservist stationed at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee. “I’ve been connected to this area for many years, drilling every month with the military reserves here, so I was aware of the higher population of Latinos and the need for an experienced officer who could also assist Veterans in a way not typical in police work.” Cruz, who was hired as the healthcare system’s police chief shortly after his retirement from the NYPD, said his more than 20 officers are spread across an area of about 100 miles, encompassing 8 VA sites of care to include the main medical center in Leeds, Mass., and outpatient clinics in the central and western cities of Worcester (Lincoln Street Primary Care Clinic, Plantation Street Specialty Clinic, Lake Avenue Clinic), Fitchburg, Springfield, Greenfield and Pittsfield. “To have my officers able to relate to the Veterans who walk through the hospital and clinic doors is a bonus,” said Cruz, who is also of Puerto Rican descent. Long before he was a VA police officer helping on a deployment to his native Puerto Rico, or serving Veterans in the Greater Springfield area, Alamo said he picked up his life in the mid-80s and moved from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Alamo, who migrated in 1986, said he’s always been in law enforcement and he brought that calling with him. “It’s a family tradition,” said Alamo, who added that his family consisted of police chiefs and detectives, among other law enforcement family-ties. “It was a natural thing for me to go into law enforcement — so I applied and was accepted to the police academy in 1980 after high school and I never looked back.” Alamo said he served as a state police officer on the island for several years before moving to Massachusetts, settling in Springfield, and eventually joining the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “I made the move for better opportunities for my family, especially my two children who are adults now.” The Springfield resident said he spent 14 years with Homeland before transferring within the federal civil service to VA Central Western Massachusetts in late 2016. “I had many people in my family serve in the military, so it felt like a good fit for me ‘to protect those who served,’ said Alamo, who can be found patrolling the exteriors and interiors of his clinic almost every weekday. “I’m always ready to help in any way that I can — and to speak with Veterans or family members of Veterans who need a better understanding of the care they receive.” José Luis Alamo, far left, stands with other VA Police officers in Ponce, Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Also photographed with Alamo from VA Central Western Massachusetts is Officer Joshua Driscoll, second from last on the right. (Photo provided by Alamo)

Officer José Luis Alamo (Photo provided by Alamo)